The landmark issuance was subscribed nearly 5 times with around 40% interest generated from Asian and European investors
Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (“DIB”), rated A3 by Moody’s (stable) and A by Fitch (stable), successfully closed a USD 750 million Additional Tier 1 (AT1) Perpetual Non-Call 6yrs Sukuk with a profit rate of 6.25% per annum, which is equivalent to 366.4bps over the implied 6-year US Treasury yield. The transaction, was only the second AT1 Sukuk under the new Basel III capital guidelines issued by the Central Bank of UAE (“CBUAE”) in 2018. This was also the first hybrid capital issuance from the GCC in 2019.
The success of this transaction came on the back of an extensive marketing strategy aimed at updating international and regional investors with DIB’s strategy and continued strong financial performance. As a result, DIB achieved one of the largest and high quality orderbooks from a GCC bank in over a year at USD 3.7bn from 168 investors, representing a 4.9x oversubscription. The investor base was well diversified with 62% of the Sukuk allocated to Middle East investors, 19% to UK/Europe, 18% to Asia and 1% to US offshore.
Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group Chief Executive Officer of DIB, commented “We are very pleased with the success of this transaction and, in particular the confidence shown by international investors in the Bank’s performance and strategic direction. The issuance attracted a diverse local, regional and international investor base, which helped us achieve the lowest possible pricing (6.25%) of any Basel III compliant AT1 instruments issued under the new capital guidelines from the UAE. With nearly 40% interest coming from outside of region, it is clear that our investor engagement strategy is on the right track and we will continue to maintain the open communication and level of transparency with the investor community from across the globe.”
Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, KFH Capital, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners on the Sukuk.
Mr. Mohamed Hassan, General Manager of Royal Central Hotel The Palm, stated, “We are delighted with the response from our guests and extremely happy to be a preferred destination for those in search of relaxation and renewal. Imbued with a playful spirit, the hotel offers an all-encompassing experience reflecting the spirit of the Palm.”
He added, “It is a peak period of demand for us, therefore, we expect to maintain strong occupancies throughout the season. Moving forward, our strategy is to drive business across all verticals. Bulk of our bookings currently come from the leisure segment, however, we are equally keen to grow our corporate sector given the unique event and meeting facilities at the hotel. In addition to our traditional source markets, we are also looking to drive more business from the GCC, India and China as well as main source markets of Dubai.”
The opening of the 5-star Royal Central Hotel The Palm, set on the iconic Palm Jumeirah in the emirate, last year had caused a flutter attracting local as well as global visitors looking to escape the day-to-day grind.
Royal Central Hotel – The Palm
‘A place where fantasy lives up to reality’ sums up what makes Royal Central Hotel The Palm so alluring. The stunning hotel features 207 elegantly-appointed rooms and suites, each beautifully designed to intuitively meet the needs of discerning travellers. Guests have access to one of the best private beaches along the pristine Palm shoreline with breath-taking scenic views. On offer are an array of recreational activities from water sports to an outdoor infinity pool, state-of-the-art gym and health spa, along with fabulous dining options. It is also the best spot to watch the sunset or the city’s spectacular fireworks at the Atlantis The Palm and Burj Al Arab.
Follow Us on @RoyalCentralAE #CanalCentalAE #CentralHotels #StayFresh
About Central Hotels Central Hotels has very quickly established itself as a reputed hotel management group in the UAE with its flagship property First Central Hotel Suites located in Barsha Heights (TECOM) near Sheikh Zayed Road. Building up on this amazing success, the brand is now poised to expand its footprint targeting the UAE as the primary market for growth in addition to other lucrative destinations in the Middle East. The group has recently added to its portfolio spectacular new 5-star hotels such as Canal Central Business Bay and Royal Central The Palm followed by Central House Citywalk focused on millennials, Beach Central The Palm, Diamond Central – Business Bay, and Island Central in Dubai.
Today, Office 365 is available for the first time on the Mac App Store, making it easier than ever for Mac users to download Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and the whole suite of Microsoft’s popular apps. Users can also purchase a subscription for Office 365 from within the apps, so they can get up and running instantly.Office 365 for Mac has been designed specifically to support features that are unique to the Mac experience — features like Dark Mode and Continuity Camera in macOS, as well as the MacBook Pro Touch Bar and the Mac’s industry-leading Trackpad.“We are excited to welcome Microsoft Office 365 to the all new Mac App Store in macOS Mojave,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Apple and Microsoft have worked together to bring great Office productivity to Mac users from the very beginning. Now, with Office 365 on the Mac App Store, it’s easier than ever to get the latest and best version of Office 365 for Mac, iPad and iPhone.”
“We are excited to announce that today Office 365 is arriving in the Mac App Store,” said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president at Microsoft. “We have worked closely with Apple to provide Mac users with the very best productivity experience — one that offers everything they know and love about Office through an experience uniquely designed for the Mac.”In business, as at home, employees want access to the best devices and apps to do their work. With Office 365 on the Mac App Store, these apps can now be easily distributed to employees using Apple Business Manager, a central dashboard where IT can deploy devices, apps and licenses. Now IT can quickly enable employees to get to work with their favorite Office tools across Mac, iPad and iPhone, with great new features designed specifically for Apple devices.
Office 365 apps, including PowerPoint, are specially designed to support the unique Mac experience.
About the Mac App Store
The Mac App Store is the single largest catalog of Mac apps in the world. Newly redesigned this past year, the Mac App Store features a new look and rich editorial content for a more enjoyable experience when finding great, new apps for the Mac. Like the iOS App Store, the new Mac App Store celebrates apps, games, businesses and developers with an all-new Discover tab featuring compelling stories, in-depth interviews, helpful tips, collections of must-have apps and more. Users can also explore new Create, Work, Play and Develop tabs to find the perfect app for a specific project or purpose — from music, video and photography apps to business utilities and games.
Emirates Skywards, the award-winning loyalty programme of Emirates and flydubai, today celebrated the opening of its new Emirates Skywards Centre in Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB). The centre was inaugurated by Dr Nejib Ben Khedher, Senior Vice President, Emirates Skywards and Nick Moore, Senior Vice President, Passenger Services, Emirates.
The Emirates Skywards Centre at DXB will function as a one-stop customer touchpoint for all new and existing members of the Emirates Skywards loyalty programme and will provide assistance across a wide range of services including programme enrolment, profile creation and luggage tag printing. Emirates Skywards staff will also be available onsite to consult with members on all Tiers and Miles related queries including how to earn, purchase, spend Miles and make optimum use of expiring Miles.
“With our new Emirates Skywards Centre, the aim is to be one step closer to our members and to help them maximise their experience and value from the programme,” said Dr Nejib Ben Khedher. “Members can stop by at any time for all their Skywards needs – whether it is getting information on membership tiers, finding out about our latest partners or using their Skywards Miles to access special events at their destination,” he added.
The Emirates Skywards Centre is now open and located at the Departures Level in Concourse B at Dubai International Airport Terminal 3. The Centre is accessible to all current and new Emirates Skywards members departing from and connecting to flights in Terminal 3.
In addition to the Emirates Skywards Centre, members can get more information on the loyalty programme and linked offers to earn and spend miles through the Skywards section on the Emirates app, as well as online on the Emirates Skywards website. Members can also use any of Emirates’ contact channels including live chat and 24/7 phone links for their Emirates Skywards enquiries.
Emirates Skywards has over 23 million members currently. Membership to the loyalty programme is free and members can earn and redeem Skywards Miles on flights and through a wide range of global partners across the travel and lifestyle space. Over the last year, the programme has launched a number of new initiatives such as the ‘My Family’ programme for 100% pooling of miles and new partnerships including co-branded credit cards with leading banks to make travel and rewards more accessible to its members.
About Emirates Skywards
Emirates Skywards, the award-winning loyalty programme of Emirates and flydubai, offers four tiers of membership – Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum – with each membership tier providing exclusive privileges. Emirates Skywards members earn Skywards Miles when they fly on Emirates, flydubai or partner airlines, or when they use the programme’s designated hotels, car rentals, financial, leisure and lifestyle partners. Skywards Miles can be redeemed for an extensive range of rewards, including tickets on Emirates or flydubai plus Emirates Skywards partner airlines, hotel accommodation, excursions and exclusive shopping. Visit Emirates Skywards online at: www.emirates.com/skywards or https://skywards.flydubai.com/en/loginSukanya RamanujanEmirates Public Relations, Emirates Group
WORCESTER, United Kingdom — It’s a warm day in early June and a group of students have gathered in the IT classroom at New College Worcester to show off their coding skills.
But instead of poking at tablet screens or typing into laptops, these students are taking out brightly colored plastic pods, connecting them together with thick white wires and then adjusting the pod’s buttons and knobs. These physical components will be used to create computer programs that can tell stories, make music and even crack jokes.
The students at New College Worcester are all blind or with low vision, and they are part of a group of students across the UK who have spent the previous school year beta testing Project Torino, a research project that led to the development of a new product called Code Jumper. It’s a physical programming language that is designed to be inclusive of children with all ranges of vision.
“What I like about Project Torino is that you can actually touch, physically, the program,” said Victoria, 14 and a student at the school, which serves about 80 students.
On Tuesday, January 22, Microsoft announced plans to transfer the research and technology behind Code Jumper to the American Printing House for the Blind, a nonprofit based in Louisville, Kentucky, that creates and distributes products and services for people who are blind or with low vision. Over the next five years, APH plans to offer Code Jumper and related curriculum to students throughout the world, with a target audience of students who are 7 to 11 years old.
Victoria, center, was part of a group of students at New College Worcester in Worcester, UK, who participated in a beta test of the technology behind Code Jumper. Photo by Jonathan Banks.
The nonprofit’s leaders say the goal isn’t just to introduce kids to coding – it’s also to give them the underlying skills that can lead to a career in computer science.
“This is an opportunity for thousands of people to have meaningful and well-paying jobs,” said Larry Skutchan, director of technology and product research for APH.
The impetus for Code Jumper began about four years ago, when Cecily Morrison, a Microsoft researcher and computer scientist, began exploring technology options for her son, Ronan, who was born blind. Morrison was surprised to discover that many of the technologies available to Ronan and other children who are blind were far clunkier and more out-of-date than the smartphones, tablets and other technology that most kids today use, because few organizations had the resources to modernize them.
“A lot of it really felt like technology of the past,” she said.
What’s more, she found, the most popular path to introducing young children to coding, usually called block coding, wasn’t very accessible because it couldn’t easily be read with assistive technology such as a screen reader or magnifier.
“It became really clear that, for a 7- or 8-year-old, it was going to be really hard to use assistive technology to code,” she said. “We realized we really need something physical, something that would excite the hands.”
YouTube Video
None of this would come as a surprise to the students at New College Worcester. As they assembled their programs, some recalled computer science classrooms in which they had been told to do touch typing – which is a method of typing by muscle memory instead of looking at the keyboard – while the other kids in their classes used block coding to write basic computer programs. Others shared the frustrations of trying to learn more complex coding skills like Python or JavaScript without the grounding in more simplified coding systems many other students were getting to use.
With Code Jumper, they said, they were immediately able to experiment and build programs.
“I just felt very independent, and I liked that,” said Daniel, who at 11 years old already knows he wants to pursue a career in computer science. “It kind of made me inspired to do more coding.”
On this day, Daniel was collaborating with another student, Rico. The 12-year-old’s favorite subjects are IT and science, and he said that in his previous school he only got to do touch typing. With Code Jumper, he was able to write an actual program for the first time.
“To just do coding, it was a fun experience,” he said.
As the kids worked on their programs, Jonathan Fogg, head of computing and IT at New College Worcester, walked around the classroom, helping them with things like debugging. Fogg also watched with evident delight as they ran their programs for him. He said Project Torino was unlike anything he’d been able to provide the kids before now.
“There really isn’t an equivalent to this physical way of programming,” Fogg said.
The early access to basic coding skills is important, Fogg said, because many kids who are blind or low vision are drawn to careers in computer science. He thinks that’s partly because many of the skills kids with low vision develop to navigate the world make them good at the kind of computational thinking that’s helpful for a computer science career. And, he said, traditionally it has been a career that is more accessible to people who are blind or low vision, because of tools such as screen readers.
But at a young age, he said, he’s found that many kids are afraid to start playing around with a computer, especially if they know it’s an expensive, fragile machine.
“If they’re not confident, they won’t have a go at the computer because they’re afraid they’ll break it,” he said. “But once they’ve gotten over that barrier, then they’ve been successful. Project Torino reinforces that – they can’t break it and they can do all these really, really cool things.”
From left, Daniel and Rico were part of a group of students at New College Worcester in Worcester, UK, who participated in a beta test of the technology behind Code Jumper. Photo by Jonathan Banks.
Magnets, blocks and lots of trial and error
It’s a couple of days later, and Theo is sitting in a small resource room at the school he attends, Kings College School, also in the UK. Theo, who is blind, has been part of the Code Jumper project for years – in fact, he was one of the first group of students who collaborated with Morrison and others to develop the system.
“I helped them choose what kind of buttons to use,” he said as his hands moved swiftly along the bright plastic pieces, assembling a program as he chatted easily about the computer science skills he’s developed over the years.
The bright plastic pods, oversized dials and thick cords the students are using today is a far cry from the original ideas Morrison and her collaborator, senior researcher Nicolas Villar, had when they first started thinking of a physical programming language.
Their original idea was to create a physical programming language that mimicked block coding, complete with actual blocks and magnets. It didn’t work at all. The kids either lined the blocks up in a row and didn’t do anything else, or they grew frustrated by the magnets falling off the table and getting lost.
Microsoft senior researcher Nicolas Villar. Photo courtesy of Microsoft.
So, Morrison, Villar and the other team members began meeting regularly with a small group of kids and getting their ideas. Based on the kids’ feedback and ideas, they switched to bigger plastic shapes that fit easily into kids’ hands, and they created surfaces the kids could rub or squeeze in order to recognize and interact with them.
With the new designs, the kids immediately began exploring ways to put them together and write short programs that made sounds.
Through the work with the young collaborators, Villar said he started to see the technology from the kids’ perspectives. For example, the kids with some vision benefited from bright, contrasting colors. They also found that kids like to work together, guiding each other’s hands, so they built the pods to be about the size of two kids’ hands.
“They were really helping us invent,” Villar said.
Once they had figured out what Morrison called “the kid way of engaging with things,” they set to work making sure that the system also would teach kids the basics of coding, such as how to create a sequence and what steps you need to take in order to debug.
The researchers also created detailed guidance that teachers without a computer science background could use to help kids develop coding skills, since they couldn’t expect all schools to have an IT specialist available to work with students who are blind or low vison.
For Villar, the impact of Code Jumper has extended far beyond just this project.
“It’s opened my eyes to different perspectives, different ways of focusing or seeing the world,” he said.
For Theo, the involvement with Project Torino has been life changing as well. He’s now doing more complex coding, including recently writing a hangman game in Python – something he says he couldn’t have done without the basics he learned using Code Jumper. Equally important to him, he’s made new friends with other kids in school who are also interested in coding.
“It’s been really good socially for us,” said Elin, his mother.
Theo demonstrates a program he created with the technology behind Code Jumper as his mother looks on. Photo by Jonathan Banks.
Big plans
In late 2017, Villar flew to Kentucky to show the leadership at American Printing House for the Blind a demonstration of the project. Craig Meador, APH’s president and a longtime educator, said he was immediately drawn to how intuitive and interesting the system would be to kids.
“If you put this in a classroom, not only is the blind student going to be using this but every student in the classroom is going to want a crack at this,” he said. “From a teacher’s perspective, that’s all you ever really want – something that’s inclusive.”
Skutchan, APH’s technology director, said the fact that it’s immediately accessible for kids with no prior computing experience is important. In the past, he said, kids who are blind or with low vision who wanted to get into coding had to first learn other computing skills, such as how to type and use a screen reader. That made it harder to get started at a young age – and potentially closed the door to a field that could have provided a career for them.
“I think coding is an equalizing field to be in,” he said.
Meador and Skutchan have grand plans for Code Jumper, including developing a curriculum and figuring out distribution and other levels of support. APH plans to release Code Jumper first in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and then to distribute it throughout the world.
They say it’s the type of system they may have dreamed of – but would never have had the resources to create themselves.
“We’ve never really had anything that’s been able to give students so many different ways they can experiment and learn about coding,” he said, “and it translates so well into actual skills.”
Top Image: Student Victoria, left, and Jonatha Fogg, right, head of computing and IT at New College Worcester, discuss the program Victoria created during a beta test of the technology behind Code Jumper. Photo by Jonathan Banks.
Riyadh: Chris Nader, Vice President – Development, Shaza Hotels, made a special presentation to a large audience of hotel owners and investors about ‘Mysk by Shaza’ at the Saudi Arabia Hotel Investment Conference (SHIC) in Riyadh. Mysk was voted the winner of The Three Minute Pitch out of the 16 leading brands that participated in the session open for owners and investors only.
Emphasising on the brand’s unique personality inspired by the Arabian lifestyle, Chris said, “Mysk by Shaza has been designed to provide a distinct guest experience combined with a compelling investment proposition to owners. A significantly lower cost of development per key than expected for such a quality upscale hotel, better back of house efficiencies, reduced staff to key ratio and stronger ADR (Average Daily Rate) versus the competition allow us to deliver a strong return on investment.”
Speaking about expansion in KSA, Chris stated, “Saudi Arabia is a priority market for us with 35 per cent of our portfolio located in the country and SHIC is an excellent platform to showcase our latest brand offering to hotel owners and investors. We have operated in the Kingdom with great success since the launch of our first 5-star property Shaza Al Madina and thereafter expanded to Makkah, Riyadh and will soon be open in Jeddah.”
The recent reforms and widespread investment in Saudi Arabia’s tourism’s sector are driving demand for a new generation of hotels and Mysk by Shaza is ideally suited for the market given its innovative concept and compelling brand proposition.
Mysk by Shaza SHIC 2019
Chris stressed, “The upscale segment is one of the fastest growing sectors in KSA and represents a massive opportunity for us that we are eager to capitalise on. As the leading alcohol-free brand in the luxury and upscale segment that proudly celebrates the Arabian hospitality, we are well placed to unlock the enormous potential for growth in Saudi Arabia while accelerating expansion in primary and secondary cities.”
A member of the Global Hotel Alliance, Mysk by Shaza has a strong development pipeline with fabulous hotels coming up in the UAE and Kuwait in addition to its hugely successful flagship hotel Mysk Al Mouj in Oman.#
About Shaza Hotels Shaza is the leading hotel management company dedicated to offering true Arabian hospitality inspired by the traditions and culture of various countries along the Silk Route and reflected by the supremely elegant Middle Eastern style décor and serene ambiance that is appreciated by the most discerning travellers.
Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, brings together 35 brands with 550 hotels in 76 countries. GHA uses a shared technology platform to drive incremental revenues and create cost savings for its member brands. GHA’s award-winning loyalty programme, DISCOVERY, provides over 11 million members exclusive opportunities to immerse themselves in local culture wherever they travel. For more information, visit www.gha.com
For further information please contact: Ali Ozbay Director of Marketing & Communications Shaza Hotels Website: www.shazahotels.com Email: ali.ozbay@shazahotels.com Office: +971 4 437 6460
Comfort and style are at the forefront this season at 2XL Furniture & Home Décor. Turn your home into a cozy nest with the gorgeous range of products from the luxury brand. Think beyond the traditional colours and swathe your favourite corners with tones of pastel pink and white to set the mood for relaxation.
Amit Yadav, Head of Marketing at 2XL, said, “One need not sacrifice comfort for design aesthetics. At 2XL Furniture & Home Décor we offer a wide choice of chic and cozy furniture and accessories for creating snug spaces. Whether you are looking to refresh your home or simply in search of something unique for a focal point we have a variety of items to ignite your imagination.” Here’s what is on offer at 2XL Furniture & Home Décor:
This charming blush-toned sofa exudes comfort and style and is ideal to lounge in. Add a touch of pink for a rosier outlook. Bentley 1str Sofa in Light Pink Dimensions: 118x107x81cm Material: Canada Pine / Plywood Price: AED 1997
This subtle floral painting signifies joy and happiness and blends perfectly with the neutral landscape. Multi-Coloured Floral Painting Material: PS frame, wood, canvas Price: AED 254
The heart-shaped coffee table looks really cool and will take centerstage in any design scheme. Teagan Copper Coffee Table Dimensions: 39x41x31cm Material: Brass and copper polished metal Price: AED 472
Intertwining a classic piece of furniture with other elements gives an unexpected twist while lending your décor an air of traditional elegance. Falkenberg1 End Table for Bedroom (Decoration in light cherry) Material: Mahogany Price: AED 309
Add touch of delicate luxury with this fluffy cushion. Pink Cushion Cover Must for Bedroom Decoration Dimensions: 45x45cm Material: 10% polyester Price: AED 93
For media contact: Hina Bakht Managing Director EVOPS Marketing & PR Mob: 00971 50 6975146 Tel: 00971 4 566 7355 Hina.bakht@evops-pr.com www.evops-pr.com
About 2XL Furniture & Home Décor UAE based 2XL Furniture & Home Décor is a retailer of luxury home furnishings since 2000. The retailer currently has 9 showrooms across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah and Al Ain. The 2XL product range includes exclusive bedroom, living and dining room furniture as well as exquisitely crafted décor items, unique gifting ideas, plush rugs and gorgeous wall art, divine bed and bath linen, eye-catching tableware, and a fun, functional kitchenware range.
The 2XL range is very classic and French-inspired. Each retail item has been carefully chosen exclusively for 2XL and denotes a lifestyle that is regal, sophisticated and of a finer taste. We have something to suit every home setting – from ornate gold-plated bedroom settings to the more subdued Parisian hues of shabby chic, quirky contemporary inspirations to more ethnic Eastern-inspired décor ideas.
For more information or to shop online please visit www.2xlme.com Connect and tag us on @2xlfurniture #2XLfurniture
On Tuesday, Google’s Jigsaw unit published a quiz that tests users’ abilities to identify phishing emails. The quiz tests you on a series of emails to see if you can distinguish tell-tale signs of phishing. Phishing is, by far, the most common form of cyberattack. One percent of emails sent today are phishing attempts. And it often represents a more serious threat than the nuisance offers for free money we’ve all seen in our inboxes.
In line with this, please find below a comment from Michael Madon, SVP & GM security awareness at Mimecast on this news and the importance of ongoing and impactful user awareness training.
Michael Madon, SVP & GM security awareness at Mimecast, commented:“Kudos to Jigsaw for building greater consumer awareness on this important topic. This is a solid effort that clearly highlights how crafty modern phishing emails can be. But this crash-course is no substitute for on-going initiatives by IT security leaders to tackle this education problem and truly change the security culture of an organisation. Employees need compelling reasons to care about security. Mimecast’s training data analysis shows that individual risk scoring is a key factor. When used alongside humorous content, the passive resistance most employees have to training can be broken down. Email security controls can be modified depending on the organisation’s own security stance, real inbound threats and the training scores of employees.”
A new celebration is yet to come at Da Vinci’s, Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai. Join us for the Venice Carnival on 24th and 25th January 2019 from 7pm to midnight. On offer will be 30% discount on the total bill, special cocktails at the rate of AED 30 each,authentic Italian dishes paired with the finest beverages, King & Queen competition and entertainment by the band.
Mr. Simon Moore, General Manager of Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai, said, “We are delighted to organise the Venice Carnival at Da Vinci’s, a great opportunity to enjoy exceptional Italian specialities along with superb entertainment. Venice, like every region of Italy, is known for its fabulous food and the Venice Carnival will be ideal to experience its fascinating gastronomic traditions.”
Launched in 1989, Da Vinci’s is one of Dubai’s very first and finest Italian restaurants offering a wide choice of authentic home-style Italian fare. Winner of numerous prestigious culinary awards, including 8-time winner for Best Italian Restaurant Award, the restaurant has been an all- time favourite for family and business diners. The outlet’s exquisite menu takes you on a culinary journey across Italy and features a variety of signature pizzas and pastas perfectly paired with an extensive selection of beverages. Equally enticing is the ambience at the restaurant that combines simple elegance with classic Italian style and friendly service.
Millennium Hotels and Resorts, Middle East and Africa Millennium Hotels and Resorts is a dynamic, global hotel company, which owns, asset manages and operates over 130 hotels worldwide. With almost 40,000 rooms and a portfolio of brands; including Biltmore, Grand Millennium, Millennium, Millennium Place, M Hotel, Copthorne, Kingsgate, Millennium Executive Apartments and Studio M, that serve different market segments, representing quality and value in every class.
Currently operating 35 hotels in the Middle East and Africa, the Group has an extensive expansion strategy in place, with 40 hotels in the pipeline. Each property in the region is unique, catering to the varying tastes and needs of the international business and leisure traveller but with a consistent promise to provide a first class service and a rewarding experience for guests. Millennium Hotels and Resorts is committed to differentiating itself by embracing the true spirit of diverse traditions, with a sincere respect to historical heritage and local culture.
With the motto “More than Meets the Eye”, Millennium & Copthorne is committed to a customer-centric philosophy and complete guest satisfaction.
Continuing its investment in digital technology and resources, Alpha Destination Management has announced the launch of its new websitealphadestinationmanagement.com
The new website delivers a compelling
user experience through enhanced mobile features, functionality and navigation,
enabling visitors to discover Alpha’s comprehensive product portfolio and
innovative travel solutions.
Samir Hamadeh, General Manager, Alpha Destination
Management, said “A website is an important marketing and business tool and it
is more significant than ever in an increasingly social and online world. Today, for most travellers, the online journey
starts on mobiles with social media platforms acting as a gateway to the
website. Our enhanced website is well integrated with social media and acts as
a promotional partner with various social channels to maximize reach. Working
with the best tourism and hospitality partners we offer exceptional value to our
customers that they can find on the site.”
alphadestinationmanagement.com is highly interactive with implementation of many interesting
features to drive more traffic. Built after extensive research and with
the needs of both wholesale bookers and travellers in mind, it will allow
visitors to explore and plan the perfect one-of-a-kind curated experiences,
tours, activities, attractions and packages in the UAE and other parts of the GCC.
The users can customise their preferences based on the offerings.
Samir stressed, “The website has been extremely well received by
our target audiences. Our objective is to enhance the overall travel experience
and we will continue to add more features and services as well as information.”
About Alpha Destination Management Founded in 1996, by Mr. Ghassan Aridi and his partners, Alpha Destination Management is the leading destination management company and a pioneer in the tourism sector in the Arabian Gulf. Over the last two decades, the company has established itself as one of the most credible and reputed brands not only in the Gulf region but also in the international tourism industry. Controlling a significant market share of the lucrative tourism sector in the GCC, Alpha Destination Management is a market leader in the region with the largest annual turnover and wide network of international partners offering the highest levels of service and innovative and exciting experiences. Our extensive global and local knowledge and network, outstanding expertise and sound reputation is the key to success for us and all our partners.
